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— LETTER 

FROM 

THE MAYOR OP WASHINGTON 

IN REFERENCE TO THE 

RELATIONS OF THE GENERAL GOYERMENT 

TO THE 

CITY OF WASHINGTON. 




Mayor's Office, 
Washington City, D. C, November, 1865. 
Sir : Presuming upon your well-known interest in whatever concerns this 
city, as well' as your often-expressed wish to give your aid in making it worthy 
of being the metropolis of this great nation, and in th'"' expectation that the 
several subjects herein alluded to, or such thereof as may meet your approval, 
may be by you communicated to Congress, I venture to suggest whei-ein I 
think its action is needed. In doing so I deem it proper that such of the sev- 
eral members who are not familiar Avith it should be informed first as to 

THE RELATIONS OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT TO THE CITY OF WASH- 
INGTON. 

In the year 1789 the locality of the city of Washington was, through the 
influence of General Washington, and after much difficulty in Congress, 
selected as that of the national metropolis, and in the year 1800 the archives 
of the government were removed here from Philadelphia : 

1st. Because of its geographical position between the north and the south. 

2d. The access to it from the ocean. 

3d. Its distance in the interior and towards the west. 

The object of having a permanent seat of government is indicated in the 
Constitution, which provides that Congress shall " exercise exclusive legislation 
in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as 
may, by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become 
the seat of government of the United States." 

To accomplish this object the District Avas ceded by the States of Maryland 
and Virginia, possession taken by Congress, and commissioners were appointed 
in 1790 by the then President, General Washington, under authority of Con- 
gress, and empowered to " survey and, by proper metes and bounds, define 
this territory, and to purchase or accept such quantity of land on the eastern 
side of the Potomac river, within such District, as the President shall deem 



856 REPORT OP THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

proper for the use of the Uuited States, and, according to such plans as the 
President shall approve, provide suitable buildings and accommodations for 
Congress, the President, and for the public officers of the government." 

While a succession of hills and valleys, the site of this city was selected as 
the permanent seat of the government of the United States from that portion of 
the District of ten miles square ceded by the State of Maiylaud. It is the 
creature of (Jongress and the general government, for their own pm-poses and 
where they have unlimited control, can regulate and govern without the inter- 
ference of the States, and is not dependent upon the will or resources of any 
particular portion of the Union, and can never be the subject of local interest. 
It is the nation's city, common to the whole country ; and as a State capital is 
to its State, so the metropolis of the nation should be to all the States and every 
American a subject of pride and interest. 

No policy can be more correct than that of making the metropolis of this vast 
republic worthy of the powerful and extended nation of which it is the focus. 
The economy or parsimony which would cripple its growth will be anti-national. 
Much has been done by previous Congresses and administrations for its im- 
provement; much more remains to be done; and while this city has expended, 
out of the taxes paid by its citizens large sums in opening, making, and repair- 
ing streets and sidewalks required by a sparse population scattered over a 
large area, and has opened and improved indiscriminately those leading to and 
around the public reservations and buildings belonging to the general govern- 
ment, enhancing the value of the nation's property, the government has spent 
upon streets and avenues laid out inordinately wide and to suit its own purposes 
and convenience, and over part of which they exercise exclusive control, cum- 
paratively little, and that little on Pennsylvania avenue and those streets and 
avenues around the Capitol, President's House, executive departments, and other 
of its own exclusive property, the improvement of which was indispensable to 
its convenience and promotive of its interest. 

The obligation of *the general government to do much- towards the improve- 
ment of this city cannot be doubted. There was, if not expressed, certainly an 
implied contract to do so, and for which the general government received a 
valuable consideration. 

When the city was laid out, the owners of the soil gave to the general gov- 
ernment not only enough for the streets and avenues of such unparalleled width, 
but likewise every alternate building lot, and nominally sold to the government 
at the minimum price of c£25 an acre, or $36,099, all the large reservations on 
which its public buildings stand. Of tlife 7,134 acres of land comprising the 
whole area of this city, the government obtained as a free gift aiid without the 
cost of a dollar — " . 

Acres. 

For streets and avenues 3, 606 

10,136 building lots ". 1, 508 

And nominally purchased 512 

5, 626 
Leaving to the proprietor of the soil every alternate lot 1, 508 

7,134 






REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 857 

The whole area of the city, exchisive of all east of Twenty-fifth street east, 
and of the basin at the west end of the canal, is 6,110.91 acres, or 266,192,564 
square feet, divided as follows : 

Sqnaro feet. 

Public reservations 25, 189, 402 

Baiklinglots 121,095,214 

Alleys 7, 141, 105 

Avenues, streets, and open spaces 112, 767, 225 

Total 226,192,546 

Feet. 

The total length of the streets is 1, 119, 663 

The total length of the avenues is 183, 797 

Aggregate 1, 303, 460 

or 227y^q5_ miles. 

Of the 227^1)^^ miles of streets, nearly all have been opened and graded ; and 
to pave them, with their unusual widths, especially the avenues, and keep them 
in repair, suggests the necessity of doing something .to relieve this corporation 
and property owners from the very heavy tax on their resources that would be 
necessary. 

The adoption of the plan of wide streets and avenues was by General Wash- 
ington, for some practical utility, though it may not as yet have been developed, 
and if a way of obviating the difficulty could be found without ultimately and 
permanently destroying that plan, it would be a temporary relief, and, until the 
utility of wide streets should be developed, it would be well to avail ourselves of it. 
The streets running from north to south, designated by numbers, and from east 
to west, designated by letters, crossing each other at right angles, are cut diag- 
onally by twenty-one avenues, bearing the names of that number of States, fif- 
teen of which poiut towards the States after which they are respectively 
named. These avenues, leading to and from every particular place or building, 
connecting every part of the city, and serving as main arteries, form at their 
junction with the streets five circles, fbuiteen triangles, twelve reservations, and 
eleven thousand and seventy squares, the circles and triangles being intended 
for ornamentation with fountains and statuary, the reservations for the public 
buildings, and the squares for individual purposes of stores and residences'. It 
was the conception of a grand plan of a model city, worthy of the name of its 
illustrious founder. 

The general government and the proprietors of the soil were joint owners of 
all the property (land) on which the federal city is built, in the proportion of 
5,626 to 1,508 acres, 5,114 acres of the government's portion having been ob- 
tained without cost, and 512 acres, though nominally purchased, were really 
paid for out of the moneys arising from the sale of the very alternate lots so 
generously given by the proprietors of the soil, with the understanding that 
they were given for the improvement of their joint property, and, as was the 
expectation of all persons, that the property so acquij-ed by the government 
would, under its management, be immensely productive, enabling it to spend 
large sums in the improvement of the city. The government is, therefore, 
bound by every principle of justice tb pay a portion of the expense of improving 
the federal city, equal to the extent of its interest, greatly more than one-half, 
and wtich was to be increased in value and be benefited by such improve- 
ments. 

Of the 10,13(i lots given by the proprietors for the purpose of improving the 
federal city, 6,411 were sold previously to the year 1802, at a time when not in 
55 I 



858 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

demand and there were but few bidders for them, and of the proceeds of the 
sale— SG42,G82 62— $330,508 08 was applied towards building the C-ipitol, 
and 1^240,632 87 towards the erection of a mansion for its Chief Magistrate. 

The remainder of these lots, a free gift to the general government, and, as was well 
understood at the time " that whatever moneys were realized therefrom would 
at least be expended for the benefit of that city," of the soil of which the dnnors 
and the general government were joint owners, were, with the exception of 
$25,000 worth each given to Columbia and Georgetown colleges, -$10,000 each 
to the Washington and St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, from time to time soldr'""^ 
the money expended in improving thefcjiroperty reserved for the use of the gen- 
eral government, the salaries and office expenses of its own officers, the 
Commissioners and Superintendent of Public Buildings, and President's gar- 
dener and for manure and utensils for his garden. 

Neither the donors, the original proprietors, nor the donees (the general 
government) at that time contemplated that the large sums of money arising 
therefrom should be spent otherwise than in the improvement of their joint 
property, and certainly no one supposed that the whole or even an equal portion 
of the burden of opening and keeping in repair streets, laying sidewalks, build- 
ing bridges, and doing whatever might be necessary to a new and large city 
intended for the capital of a great nation, or indeed of subsequently maintaining 
and supporting it, should be borne by the citizens of Wasliington alone. 

Upon the property reserved for the use and purposes of the nation the 
general government has expended in buildings and other improvements for its 
own exclusive use the sum of $14,709,338 67, partly taken from the public 
treasuiy, and partly from the sale of the lots donated from ])rivate individuals, 
while the reservations themselves are valued at $13,412,293 36, making the 
aggregate value of the nation's real property in this city at the time of the 
assessment, now some years since, to be $28,121,631 45, nearly equal in value 
to all individual property, and which, if liable to the same burden, would yield 
by Avay of taxation a revenue to this city of $210,912 23 annually. 

This immense property of the government has at all times been free from 
taxation, while property of individuals has been subject to it,. 

Holding here more property than elsewhere in the [Jnion, assessments upon 
which alike to private property have from time to time been made, the 
government has been subject to no imposition of the kind, and taxes collected 
only from individuals. 

The avenues vary from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty 
feet in width, and the streets from eighty to one hundred and forty feet, the 
average being ninety feet, costing more than double the amount of streets of 
the same length and more moderate dimensions, and as it has not grown in the 
usual manner, but has necessarily been created in a short time, the pressure for 
improvement has been burdensome to its citizens. 

If, therefore, Congress would allow — and 1 see no reason why it should not — the 
property of the general government in this city to bear its equal proportion of 
the burden of maintaining and supporting the municipal government, of improv- 
ing their own and the citizen's joint property, of supporting the great number of 
indigent persons attracted to the seat of government, and of educating the chil- 
dren of the thousands flocking here from all sections of the country, no more 
could or would be asked. 

Charge the general government with the money realized from the sale of the 
lots, and which should have inured to the benefit of the city, the interest thereon, 
and with a rate of taxation on its vast property here as is paid by individuals, 
and credit it with every dollar spent and properly chargeable to the. improve- 
ment of the city, it will be found that the general government is greatly debtor 
to the city. 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. S59 



INDEBTEDNESS OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT TO THE CITV\ 

It was not, however, until the citizens of Washington had borne so unequal a 
burden for a long time, that Congress, admitting the propriety of at least spend- 
ing in the improvement of the city wliat was realized from the sale of the 
lots given by the original proprietors of the soil, on the 15th day of May, 1820, 
by the 15th section of an act of that date, directed "that the Commissioner of 
^'•"Mic Buildings, or other person appointed to superintend the United States 
illt^oursements in the city of Washington, shall reimburse to the corporation a 
just proportion of any expense which may hereafter be incurred in laying open, 
paving, or otherwise improving any of the streets or avenues in front of, or ad- 
joining to, or which may pass through or between any of the public squares or 
reservations, which proportion shall be determined by the comparison of the 
length of the fronts of the said squares or reservations of the United States on 
any such street or avenue with the whole extent of the two sides thereof." 

At this time, May 15, 1820, there remained of the lots so given by the orig- 
inal proprietors 3,725, all of which have been sold at greatly enhanced prices, 
and the money paid into the treasury, and this corporation has since then, from 
time to time, advanced sums of money to the general government which it is 
entitled under this act to have refunded, and which yet remain unpaid, as 
follows : 

March 23, 1855. Sewer in Four-and-a-half street, in front of res- 
ervation between Missouri avenue and the canal $1, 000 00 

September 17, 1855, Grading and gravelling Seventeenth street, 

in front of President's grounds down to the canal 1, 000 0(1 

August 26, 1856. Paving carriage-way of Ninth street west, from 

B street to Pennsylvania avenue 2, 582 16 

May 27, 1857. Advanced by the corporation of Washington for 

the repair of the Long bridge . . . . , 5, 000 00 

May 12, 1860. Trimming and gravelling I street north, from 

Sixth to Seventh street west 206 50 

September 14, I860.. Enclosing Judiciary square, (under act of 

Congress approved , March 3, 1857.) 2, 500 00 

October 20, 1860. Repairing Missouri avenue, from .Four-and-a- 
half to Sixth street west 200 00 

April 27, 1861. Grading and gravelling G street north, from 

Fourth to Fifth street west 113 63 

November 2, 1861. Sewer in Thirteenth street, in front of gov- 
ernment space between Pennsylvania avenue and E street. ... 1, 500 00 

April 17, 1862. Improvement of Four-and-a-half street, from Mis- 
souri avenue to Maine avenue 244 00 

May 20, 1862. Loaned to Commissioner of Public Buildings for 

cleaning Pennsylvania avenue 1, 500 00 

September 6, 1862. Sewer in Seventh street, in front of Northern 

market-house 1, 750 00 

January 1, 1863. Sewer in front of space on Tenth street, between 

I and New York avenue 800 00 

March 23, 1863. Grading Twentieth street west, from Pennsyl- 
vania avenue to I street north 500 00 

May 23, 1863. Sewer on Ninth, between I and K streets, public 

space 1, 750 00 

May 29, 1863. Sewer in Sixth street, in front of public space 

between I and K streets 1, 500 00 

July 27, 1863. Grading and gravelling I street north, from 

Eleventh to Twelfth street west 500 00 



860 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

July 27, 1863. Grading and gravelling Eleventh street west, 

from I to K street north * SoOO 00 

August 1, 1863. Paving carriage-way of B street north, between 

Seventh and Ninth streets west 5, 135 94 

September 7, 1863. Relaying gutters on Eighth street west', be- 
tween I and K streets north 1,211 50 

October 31, 1863. Repairing F street north, from Seventh to 
Eighth street west 138 00 

February 12, 1864. Improving reservation at Fifth and Sixth 

streets and I street and Massachusetts avenue 880 40 

February 12, 1864. Enclosing public reservation between Eighth 

and Ninth, and K sireet and Massachusetts avenue 929 20 

April 29, 1864. Relaying gutters in Fifth street west, between 

E and Gr street north, (Judiciary square) 691 53 

May 24, 1864. Improving and enclosing reservation at intersec- 
tion of Massachusetts avenue and Tenth and Eleventh streets, 1, 129 67 

July 29, 1864. Sewer in front of public space between Eighth 

and Ninth streets, on K street 750 00 

October 24, 1864. Grading and gravelling B street north, from 
Fifteenth to Seventeenth street west, in front of reservation 
south of President's House 2,000 00 

October 24, 1864. Paving carriage-way of K street north, from 

Seventh to Eighth street west 888 08 

May 22, 1865. Cleaning Pennsylvania avenue May 22 and 23, 

1865 510 00 



37,410 61 



In addition to these, this corporation has spent thousands of dollars in im- 
proving from time to time the several avenues and laying flag footways across 
the same, which they would in equity be entitled to liave again from the general 
government, though no special claim is made herein therefor. 

Congress, by the third section of an act of May 5, 1864, entitled "An act to 
amend an act to incorporate the inhabitants of the city of Washington, passed 
May 15, 1820," directed that in all cases in which the streets, avenues, or alleys 
of the said city pass through or hy any of the property of the United States, the 
Commissioner of Public Buildings shall pay to the duly authorized officer of the 
corporation the just proportion of the expense incurred in improving such ave- 
nue, street, or alley which said property bears to the whole cost thereof, to be 
ascertained in the same manner as the same is apportioned among the individ- 
ual proprietors of the property improved thereby. Under this section of this 
act this corporation is entitled to have from the Commissioner of Public Build- 
ings the following sums for the Avork done during the past summer and this 
fall, and for which an immediate appropriation is asked : 

Fourteenth street sewer across Ohio avenue, across Pennsylvania avenue, and 
in front of the reservation south side of avenue in front of Franklin square, 
and across Vermont and Massachusetts avenues, 1,145 feet- . . ^9, 918 00 
E street north. Paving carriage-way in front of reservation south 
side of E street north, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth 

streets west, half of the street, 553 feet 2, 637 00 

Seventh street sewer in front of Patent and Post Offices, also in 
front of government reservation and across Pennsylvania ave- 
nue and Louisiana avenue, J ,364 feet sewer 12, 712 00 

Four-and-a-half street. Paving of Four-and-a-half stj-eet from the 

canal to Missouri avenue, also side footwalks, 400 feet 4, 910 00 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 861 

Fifth street. Paving half of carriage-way in front of government 
reservation, also side footwalks between Fand G streets, 1,330 
feet : $6, 926 00 

F street north. Paving the carriage-way of F street north, in 

front of the Post and Patent Offices, 500 feet 3, 808 00 



40,911 00 



It is intended that mnch more shall be done daring the approaching than 
was during the last season, and it is important that provision should be made in 
advance to have ready in the hands of the Commissioner of Public Buildings 
sufficient funds to pay the general government's proportionate part ; unless this 
is done, delays and difficulties will arise which will necessarily impede us in 
improving the city. 

It is impossible to approximate the sum that will be required, and I do not 
think I will be far wide of the mark in asking for one hundred thousand 
dollars. 

SEWERAGE. 

No subject in connexion with this city can better engage your own and the 
attention of Congress than the matter of its proper drainage, so essential to the 
health, comfort, and convenience of those, like yourself, connected with the 
general government, having a protracted residence among us, and of individual 
members u{ Congress, who are more or less here dm-ing their terms, as well as 
to the permanent resident. 

Upon this subject I had the honor to transmit to yon, a short time since, a very 
elaborate and able report of Messrs. Class and Kammerhueber, civil engineers, sug- 
gesting a proper mode of sewerage, involving, however, an expense which this city 
at present is unable to bear; and as it is just and proper that the general govern- 
ment should assist in accomplishing this much- desired and needed object, I 
would therefore ask the co-operation of the general government, and would 
suggest, if none better is offered, that the mode and means of efficient drainage 
proposed by those gentlemen be adopted, the cost to be borne equally by the 
general and municipal governments, and the work to be done und(^' the super- 
vision of a board of scientific and practical gentlemen of this city. This would 
effectually abate what for a long time past has been an insufferable nuisance, the' 
filth in the canal. To this end the corporation should be empowered by Congress 
to levy a special tax to meet its share of the expense. 

Permit me here to commend to you, and through you to the consideration of 
Congress, the work of draining the low grounds near the arsenal, now being 
done for the commandant of the post, under the supervision of Mr. William D. 
Wise, and suggest that, in addition to the great improvement of the property of 
the government in that neighborhood, it is all-important to the health of the 
community of Washington. 

I would also suggest that the general government unite with that of the city 
in adopting a general system of sewerage, and particularly that the act of 
Congress of February 23, 1865, entitled " An act to amend an act to incorpo- 
rate the inhabitants of the city of Washington, passed May 15, 1820," approved 
May 5, 1864, be amended so as to provide for laying the taxes therein pro- 
vided for, for sewerage, upon the property benefited by the sewer, instead of, as 
now, limiting it to the property bordering on the sewer ; as it now bears with 
unusual hardship upon the property bordering upon the improvement, while 
property equally benefited, though not bordering on it, escapes at compara- 
tively small cost. 



862 EEPOET OF THE SECEETAEY OF THE INTEEIOE. 

STREETS AND AVENUES. 

, I would direct your attention to the necessity of opening and otherwise im- 
jjroving the avenues of this city. These thoroughfares are the proj)erty of the 
general government, exclusively under its control and jurisdiction, and shoiild 
be improved, at least that part of them already built upon, by paving the car- 
riage-ways in the same way as that adopted by the city in paving the streets. 
This could be done by the corporation availing itself of the power granted by 
the act of Congress of February 25, 1865, and levying upon the property bor- 
dering thereon a tax, as provided in that act. 

To exercise this power, however, would prove exceedingly onerous to the indi- 
vidual property owners, in consequence of the great width of those thoroughfares, 
as well as to this corporation, which has to bear the expense of so improving all 
the intersections. To obviate this difficulty, I would suggest for your consid- 
eration the lessening the width of such of the avenues as will admit of its 
being done without injury to private property, by laying outside of the pave- 
ment line, on each side, a sodded course, to be flanked with a line of curbing 
and planted with ornamental shade trees, as is common in the cities of Buffalo 
and Cleveland. 

This would so lessen the width of the carriage-way of the avenues and contract 
the space necessary to be paved as to render paving them, if not less, certj^inly 
not more expensive to the property owners thereon than to those on the streets. 

Again, if this be not done, I would suggest as an alternative that the general 
government undertake and cause to be paved the carriage-way of all the avenues, 
while the city undertakes and will pave the carriage-way of the streets, 
paying therefor not as at present, by a tax on the property, but out of its general 
fund. This, I think, would equalize the burden between the general and muni- 
cipal governments, relieve the individual property owners from an extraordinarily 
heavy burden of taxation, and greatly facilitate the paving of the whole city. 

In this connexion, I would ask that Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, 
New Jersey, and Virginia avenues be opened and improved ; that the carriage- 
way of Pennsylvania avenue west of the Capitol be repaved with the Belgian 
pavement, and that portion of it east of the Capitol be reduced to its proper 
grade and the footwalks on both sides be laid down at least to Eleventh street 
east, and the carriage-way of Maryland avenue west of the Capitol be paved 
to the Potomac river. 

MARKET-HOUSE. 

Some two years since, this corporation, deeming its right to do so indisputa- 
ble, attempted to abate the nuisance created by the dilapidated and unsightly 
buildings on Pennsylvania avenue known as the Centre market, by the erection 
on the same site of a new and ornamental building; when, at the instance of 
some persons, and with a view to prevent the occupancy of that reservation for 
such purpose, the House of Representaiives passed the following resolution : 

*' Resolved, That the Committee for the District of Columbia be instructed to 
inquire into and report what legislation is necessary, and what further public 
officers are needed, to prevent or abate the obstructions of the streets of the 
city of Washington, as prescribed by the original plan ; and particularly by 
what authority of law Eighth street west is obstructed so as to prevent sight 
of the Smithsonian grounds, and proper ventilation of that street; also, by what 
authority of law North B street is used for building purposes ; also, by what 
law or regulation the streets leading toward the public mall are trenched upon 
by any structures whatever, pi-eventing an uninterrupted view of the grounds 
and that ventilation which is a necessity to the health of the city ; and also, 
whether the rental of the public reservation between Tenth and Twelfth streets 
west, near North B street, accrues to the government or to the corporation of 
Washington." 



EEPORT OP THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 



863 



The object of tliis resolution was, plainly, to defeat the attempt of this corpo- 
ration to replace by new, ornamental and t^ightly bnikliugs the old and dilapi- 
dated ones occupying the ret^ervation on Pennsylvania avenue and used as a 
market-liouse by this corporation. 

The autliority to occupy with a building of that cliaracter, and for the purpose 
for which it has so long been used, the public space or reservation on which 
the Centre ]\Iarket now stands, is identical with and precisely the same as that 
to occupy with th-e buihlings and for the purposes for which tliey are used the- 
spaces or reservations on which now stand the Capitol, President's House, the 
State, Treasury, War, and Navy I)(>partments, and Patent Office ; and, further, 
v.-hile the Capitol obstructs Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey avenues, 
North, South and East Caj)itol streets; the President's House Pennsylvania 
and New York avenues, F and Gr streets; the City Hall Indiana and Louisiana 
avenues, E and F streets, and the i'atent Office this same Eighth street, neither 
the old Centre market nor the contemplated new building obstructs any avenue 
or street whatever. 

This city was laid out under the authority of Congress and in compliance 
with the orders and directions of General Washington, which are of record in 
your office, wherein Thomas Beall and John M. Gant, the trustees to whom 
the proprietors of the soil had conveyed their lands for the purpose of a federal 
citji, were ordered and directed to convey to the commissioners appointed under 
the act of Congress of July 16, 1790, entitled " An act to establish a temporary 
and permanent seat of government of the United States and their successors, 
for the use of the United States forever," all the streets and such of the land, 
squares, parcels, or lots, as the President should deem proper for the use of the 
United States. 

Certain squares, parcels, and lots, containing in the aggregate 541 acres, 1 
rood, and 2 perches, and numbered from 1 to 17, and marked and laid down, 
and as clearly and precisely delineated on the original plan of the city as any 
private lot, were deemed proper for the use of the United States, and were set 
apart and dedicated to public uses by General Washington, as follows : 



Designations, &c. 



The President's square -. 

The Capitol sijuare and mall east of 15th street west 

The park south of Tiber creek and west of 15th street Avest 

The University square, south of squares Nos. 33 and 34, to Potomac 



The fort at Turkey Buzzard or Greeiileaf *s Point 

The West market, on Potomac, (covered with water.) 

The Centre market - 

The National Chui'ch square 

The Judiciary square 

North of Pennsylvania avenue, l)etween 3d and 4^ streets west . 

Between north B and C streets and '2d and 3d streets west 

North of Pennsylvania avenue, between '^d and 3d streets west . 

The Hospital square 

The Navy Yard square 

Eastern Branch Market square 

do do... 

The Town House square ^ 



Total. 



83 

227 

29 

19 

28 

2 
4 

19 
6 
3 
1 

77 

12 
1 
1 

23 

541 



22 

\ 8 
9 



31 

33 
25 
27 
31 
34 
4 
26 
15 
21 
23 
18 

29 



8G4 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

Tliis orif^inal plan, with its seventeen appropriations or reservations dis- 
tinctly marked out, laid down, and delineated, and the purpose for which they 
were severally intended and set apart publicly declared, was laid before the 
])roprietors before they agreed or did make to the general government grants 
of the soil on which this city stands, and the commissioners who sold, and the 
parties who bought, did so under the full persuasion that these appropriations 
were permanent and unalterable. 

The clause of these orders and directions of Greneral Washington, assigning 
appropriation (reservation) No. 7, ignores 8th street west, south of the north 
line of Louisiana avenue, and gives for Centre maiket square the whole of the 
area running west from 7th to 9th streets, and running north from Canal street 
to Pennsylvania and Louisiana avenues, in these words : " The public appro- 
priation beginning at the north side of Canal street and the east side of 9th 
street west, thence north to the south side of an avenue (Louisiana) drawn in 
front of square numbered three hundred and eighty-two, (382,) thence north- 
easterly with the south side of said avenue (Louisiana) until it intersects Penn- 
sylvania avenue, thence with the south side of said avenue (Pennsylvania) 
until it intersects the west side of 7th street west, thence with the west side of 
said street until it intersects Canal street, thence with the north side of Canal 
street to the beginning." 

All these seventeen appropriations intended for public buildings and uses, 
with few exceptions, intersect and obstruct streets, and are as minutely de- 
scribed in the original plan of the city, indorsed by both Presidents Washing- 
ton and Adams, as any private lot, the object being, I presume, to break the 
monotony of streets miles in length by imposing public edifices at the most 
important intersections. 

(Subsequently the House of Representatives, on the 25th day of June, 1864, 
passed another resolution in these words following, and which was commonly 
understood to be intended to put an end to and prevent the erection of tlfe 
new market-house ; and at the instance of your predecessor, who so understood 
it, the further prosecution of the work was stopped : 

"JOINT RESOLUTION authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to reclaim and preserve 
certain property of the United States. 

" Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and 
is hereby, authorized and directed to prevent the improper appropriation- or oc- 
cupation of any of the public streets, avenues, squares, or reservations in the 
city of Washington belonging to the United States, and to reclaim the same if 
unlawfully appropriated, and particularly to prevent the erection of any perma- 
nent building upon any property reserved to or for the use of the United 
States, unless plainly authorized by act of Congress, and to report to the Con- 
gress, at the commencement of its next session, his proceedings in the premises, 
together with a full statement of all such property, and how and by what au- 
thority the same is occupied or claimed. Nothing herein contained shall be 
construed to interfere with the temporary and proper occupation of any portion 
of such property, by lawful authority, for the legitimate purposes of the United 
States." 

Though it might have been the object and intention of the member who of- 
fered that "joint resolution" to prevent the erection, by this corporation, of a 
new building on the site of the present Centre market, no particular mention or 
allusion is made to it, and it is not reasonable to suppose that, if advised of 
such object and intention, Congfess would, in so hurried a manner, without in- 
formation on the subject, and without providing something in lieu thereof, have 
adopted a measure so materially affecting the comfort and convenience of the 



EEPOET OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 8G5 

community of Washington and the interests of this corporation, and* so detri- 
mental to private rights. 

The resolution is general in its terms, authorizing and directing the Secretary 
of the Interior "to prevent the improper appropriation or occupation of any of 
the public streets, avenues, squares, or reservations, in the city of Washington, 
belonghig to the United States, to reclaim the same if unlawfully appropriated, 
and particularly to prevent the erection of any permanent building ujjon any 
property reserved to or for the use of the United States, unless plainly au- 
thorized by act of Congress," Avith a proviso that "nothing therein contained 
shall be construed, however, to interfere -with the temporary and proper occu- 
pation of any portion of such property, by lawful authority, for the legitimate 
purposes of the United States." 

Taking this joint resolution as it is intended, the inquiry will be, by what 
authority this corporation occupies and uses that space for market purposes ; 
and though the right so to occupy it might be readily presumed from the length 
of time it has been so used, the authority of this corporation will, I think, on 
examination, be found to have emanated from Congress itself. 

The act of Congress establishing a temporary and permanent seat of govern- 
ment of the United States, (July 16, 1^90,) and an act to amend the same, 
(March 3, 1791,) authorized the President of the United States to appoint three 
commissioners, any two of whom were empowered, under the direction of the 
President, to survey and by proper metes and bounds to define and limit a dis- 
trict of territory, and with power to purchase or accept such quantity of land 
on the eastern side of the Potomac as the President should deem proper, for 
the use of the United States and according to such plan as the President shall 
approve, to provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress, for 
the President, and the public officers of the government of the United States." 

By authority of these acts of Congress, and under the direction of the Presi- 
dent and these commissioners, Major Charles Peter I'Enfant laid out a plan of 
the seat of the federal government, and the proprietors of the soil, on the 29 :h 
of June, 1791, executed a deed conveying all their lands to Thomas Beall, of 
George, and John M. Gant, upon the special trusts to convey all the said lauds, 
or such part thereof as may be thought necessary and proper, to be laid out as 
a federal city, with such streets, squares, parcels, and lots as the President of the 
United States and the commissioners for the time being appointed by virtue 
of the act of Congress entitled "An act for establishing a temporary and per- 
manent seat of government of the United States," and their successors for the 
use of the United States forever, all the said land, streets, and such of the 
said squares, parcels and lots, as the President shall deem proper, for the use of 
the United States; and that as to the residue of the said lots into which the 
said lands shall have been laid off and divided, a fair and equal division of thcni 
shall be made, one-half to the original proprietors, the other moiety "to be 
sold at such times and on such terms and conditions as the President of the 
United States shall direct, and the produce of the sales of said lots applied in 
the first place to the payment in money for so much of the land as might be 
appropriated to the use of the United States, at the rate of c£25 per acre, not 
accounting streets as part thereof, this being so paid or in any other manner 
satisfied;" then the produce of the same sales, or what may remain thereof as 
aforesaid in money or securities of any kind, shall be paid, assigned, transferred, 
and delivered over to the President for the time being as a grant, of money to 
be applied for the purposes and according to the act of Congress aforesaid, and 
i7i trust furl her that the proprietor of the soil, his heirs and assigns, shall and 
mail continue his occupation of the land sold at his and their will and pleasure 
until the same shall be occupied under the said appropriations for the use of the 
United States as aforesaid, or by purchasers. 
Ou the 19th of December, 1791, the legislature of Maryland passed an act 



866 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

" concernin,": the Territory of Columbia aud the city of Washington," subject- 
ing the lauds of all other persons iu the city to the same terms and conditions as 
those conveyed by Notley Young and others in trust to Beall and Gant. 

These acts of Congress, the act of the legislature of Maryland, with the deeds 
of trusts from the proprietors of the soil, are the sources of authority under 
which the President and commissioners acted in laying out the city. 

The plan of Major I'Enfant, with slight alterations made by Mr. Ellicott, 
was approved by General Washington, and the division of lots between the 
government and the proprietors of the soil as provided for in the deeds of trusts 
made in accordance therewith. 

In the original plan were many spaces reserved to and for the use of the 
United States. The objects for which they were reserved and the purposes to 
which they were to be devoted, with the exception of tho?e for the Capitol and 
President's House, were not at that time indicated by any official act, of either 
the President or the commissioners. 

The designation of the others was held under advisemeiit ; and on the 30th 
of June, 1794, the commissioners directed their surveyor, Mr. Nicholas King, 
"to lay out the market squares;" and on the ISlh of October, in the same year, 
in a letter addressed to Mr. David Burns, a proprietor of ground in that neigh- 
borhood, they say, " The ground taken for public use about the market square is 
not yet entirely ascertained. Mr. Jcdmson has directions to furnish you with the 
quantity of your ground appropriated by the commissioners for the market and 
about it." 

Congress having authorized the commissioners to borrow a sum of money 
not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars to provide suitable buildings for 
its own, the accommodation of the President, and the public officers of the 
government of the United States, and all the lots vested in the commissioners 
or the trustees in any manner for the use of the United States then remaining 
unsold, except those appropriated to public use, being made chargeable with the 
repayment of this money, (act May 6, 1796,) rendered it necessary that such 
of the spaces as were intended and reserved for public use should be designated 
to except them from the terms of the act to prevent iheir sale. 

It was not till then that General Washington gave a definite shape to his 
well-matured reflection on the destinations of the portions of ground in the 
city of Washington reserved to and for the use of the Uhited States. 

On the 2d of March, 1797, just two days before he vacated the presidential 
chair, by virtue of the authority vested in him and the commissioners by acts 
of Congress and the deed of trust, in order to except them from the terms of 
the act of May 6, 1796, and to prevent a sale of them under this act, adopting 
the language of that act and defining them severally by metes and bounds, he 
appropriated seventeen of those pieces or portions of ground so reserved to and 
for the use of the United States, as before particularly enumerated and men 
tioned, for the uses, purposes and interests before stated, among which was this 
appropriation for the Centre market. 

These appropriations so made by General Washington, and the uses and pur- 
poses to which they were dedicated, were subsequently, iu 1798, recognized by 
C(mgress when authorizing a loan of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to 
the commissioners from the public treasury, aud charging with its repayment 
"all the lots vested in the commissioners or the trustees for the United States 
and then remaining unsold, excepting those set apart for j^^blic uses." (Act 
April IS, 1798.) 

And again, in 1800, when, "for the greater convenience of the members of 
both houses of Congress in attending to their duty in the said city of Washing- 
ton, and the greater facility of communication between the various offices and 
departments of the government," the commissioners were aixthorized to borrow 
money for the purpose of making footways in suitable places and directions, 



REPOET OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, 867 

and all the lots in the city of Washington vested in the commissioners or the 
trustees in the city of Washhigton, in any manner, for the use of the United 
States and then remaining unsold, except those set apart for puhllc imrposes, 
made chargeable with its repayment. 

The city councils deeming the appropriation of that piece or portion of the 
property so reserved to and for the use of the United States by General Wash- 
ington, and its recognition by President Adams and Congress, for the purpose 
of a market, sufficient, subsequently, on the 6th of October, 1S02, passed an act 
establishing a market on the space south of Pennsylvania avenuci, between 
Seventh and Ninth streets west, to be known by the name of the Centre market. 

This act was approved by the then mayor, (Mr. Brent,) an appointee; of the 
President, and the corporation has continued in possessi«ai of that space and 
used it as appropriated by General Washington, and with the consent and appro- 
bation of every successive President of the United States, for a market and 
market purposes from that time, a period of sixty-two years. 

The official plat-book, showing the division of lots between the general gov- 
ernment and the proprietors of the soil, in accordance with the deeds of trust 
and the appropriations of these several pieces or portions of the property so re- 
served to and for the use of the United States to specific purposes, begun under 
the direction of President Washington by Mr. Nicholas King, the city surveyor, 
furnished in 1803 and ajjproved by President Adams, and now in the office of 
the Commissioner of Public Buildings, is the only official record in existence, 
and transcripts from which, signed by the surveyor of the city of Washington, 
were made evidence by act of Congress, (act January 12, 1809.) 

Just after the first act of incorporation of the city of Washington (May 3, 
1802,) and the passage of the act by its councils to establish a market on this 
space, (October 6, 1802,) Mr. Nicholas King, who had been intrusted by Gen- 
eral Washington with making the official plat-book, on the 25th September, 
1803, in a letter to President Adams, in speaking of these appropriations and 
the uses to which they were to be applied, says : "In the sales that had been 
made, both by the commissioners and the original proprietors, the designations 
of these places have been spoken of as inducements to purchasers, many of 
whom have selected their property accordingly. The extensive appropriations 
for the public buildings of the United States and for the city for public walks, 
markets, and other important purposes, ought to be held agreeably to the inten- 
tion of the douorS, and the views with which they were selected, in order to 
acquire and secure the public confidence so necessary to our growth and pros- 
perity." 

These views were approved by President Adams and his successors in office 
to the present time, and Congress itself, in 1812, 1820, 1824, 1826, and 1848, 
sanctioned them when it provided " that the corporation shall have power and 
authority to occupy and improve for public purposes, by and with the consent 
of the President of the United States, any part of the public and open spaces and 
squares in said city not interfering with any private rights." And again, on the 
31st of May, 1832, by section eleven of an act of that date was the right of this 
corporation to occupy the particular reservation in question in the way and for 
the purposes proposed expressly recognized by Congress. Likewise Congress 
(act May 9, 1860) recognized the claim of this corporation to use that space 
for the purpose of a market, and ceded to it that property for such purpose so 
long as the market-house should be contitnied thereon, and authorized the city 
of Washington to borrow a sum not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, 
at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent., coupled, however, with a con- 
dition that a new market-house, according to a certain plan, should be built 
thereon within the period of two years. 

Thus it appears very clearly that up to a very recent period the executive 
and legislative authority of the country has recognized the right oY this city to 



868 ^ REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

occupy this public space as a public market, aud it lias so occupied it under a 
claim of right for more than sixty years. Xor is there any act of the Executive 
or any proceeding in Congress to be found inconsistent with this lawful claim ; 
for although at first the act of the 9th of May, 1860, may seem to be incon- 
sistent with such a claim, on examination it will be found not to be so. 

By the amended charter of 1S4S, section ten, the corporate authorities of this 
city are expressly prohibited from incj-easing its funded debt, except in the 
manner prescribed in that section. In the year 1860 they desired to erect a 
new market-house on the site of the old Centre market, and to enable them to 
do so applied to Congress for power to create a debt not exceeding two hundred 
thousand dollars at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent. On this ap- 
plication Congress ^ssed the act in question. The first sentence of the first 
section of this act recognizes the fact that this space has been heretofore and is 
still occupied for the Centre market, and ceded it to the corporation on condi- 
tion that they should, within two years thereafter, erect thereon a market-house. 
The third sentence authorizes the corporation to create a debt not exceeding two 
hundred thousand dollars to erect said market-house. And the third section 
provides that in case it shall take 'effect it shall be construed to vest the title to 
the property in the corporation, so long as the said market-house shall be con- 
tinued thereon and used for the purposes aforesaid, and no longer. 

We are to look for the meaning of the legislature to the common-sense con- 
struction of the words employed, the remedy they intended to provide, and to 
the external facts, to aid us in discovering the mischief intended to be remedied. 
If, as has- been shown, this plot of ground was originally set apart as a place 
for a market-house by General "Washington, under the powers vested in Tiim 
under the deeds of trust ffom the proprietors of the soil, the acts of Congress, 
and the Maryland legislature, and has been uninterruptedly, for the space of 
sixty years, used aud occupied by the corporation of Washington, with full 
knowledge of the executive and legislative authorities, although the title to the 
land still remained in the United States, and this was no more than a permis- 
sive occupation at the will of the government, it cannot be doubted that until 
Congress legislated on the subject the city was justified in treating the prop- 
erty as rightfully devoted to their use. 

They had not power under this charter to increase the funded debt, so as to 
enable them to build such a market-house as would satisfy the public demand 
and gratify the public taste, and claiming the right still to occupy the ground, 
but desiring to remove all possible doubt as to the permanency of that right, 
they applied for a cession of the ground, and for power to raise money for the 
contem.plated improvement. In this there was no abandonment of a right, any 
more than a man who has an equitable estate, or an easement, abandons his 
claim when he applies for and receives a quit-claim of the legal title outstanding 
in another, nor does a just criticism of the words of the act lead to any other 
conclusion. The extent to which they go is that Congress secures to the cor- 
poration the use of the ground already occupied by the corporation, if the build- 
ing contemplated in the act shall be consti'ucfed within the time limited therein, 
so long as the building shall be used as a market-house. The failure of the' 
corporation to satisfy the condition, occasioned by the extraordinary condition 
of the country and the exti*aordinary state of things, leaves the matter precisely 
where it stood before, and the respective parties unaffected by it. 

The resolution to which I have called your attention required your prede- 
cessor " to reclaim such public grounds as are imlawfuUy appropriated, and to 
prevent the erection of any permanent building upon any property reserved to 
the use of the United States unless plainly authorized by act of Congress." 
Unless the word plainly in this resolution is to be read " expressly," or by 
some equivalent term, I beg leave to say the resolution " plainly" did not pro- 
hibit or authorize your predecessor to prevent the erection of the contemplated 



EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 869 

market-house. Tlic covenant and agreement in the deeds of trusts from the 
proprietors of the soil ^'^ that the grantor and Itis heirs and assigns .^hoi/ld and 
■might continue in his possession and occvpation of their lands at their icill and 
yleasure, until they shall he occupied, under the said approjniations., for the use 
of the United States, or by fur chaser s ; and when any lots or parcels shall he 
occupied by purchase or appropriation as aforesaid., then and nut till then should 
the grantor relinquish his occupation thereof" the early legislation on this sub- 
ject, the distinct appropriation of this parcel of ground for a Centre market, and 
the uninterru[)ted occupation of it by this corporation for so many years, all 
show the understanding of the respective parties, that when Genci-al Washing- 
ton set it apart for a Centre market, it was intended that the corporate authori- 
ties of the city, then in contemplation, when they should come into being, 
should have the use of it for a Centre market. It is not possible. to conceive 
that either the President, or the trustees, or Congress, were to build and manage 
a market-house, and it was then, as now, emphatically a part of the powers 
held by municipal corporations. 

That General Washington, under the express legislation of Congress already 
referred to, had power so to set apart, designate, and appropriate this specific 
reservation, can admit of no rational doubt. That he did so set it apart is 
equally certain. We have, then, the act of Congress which "plainly" author- 
ized the President to set apart this reservation for the purposes of a market, 
the act of the President executing the power so vested in him, and the acts of this 
corporation from time to time improving the ground and erecting the buildings 
thereon, and it can scarcely be contended that under this resolution you are re- 
quired to prevent them from pulling down those old, unsightly, and dilapidated 
buildings, thus abating a nuisance already borne too long by this community, 
and electing new and fitting ones in their place. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The matter of public schools is one that reaches the whole community, and in 
which the municipal authorities have manifested the greatest care and interest. 

With the greatest liberality on the part of the city councils, and a willingness 
on the part of the citizens to bear taxation for this purpose, it is impossible, as 
yet, to provide for the wants of the community in this respect. Hundreds in 
the employment of the general government who have no interest in the commu- 
nity further than connected with the general government and as tempo- 
rary residents, and who do not contribute a cent to their support, avail 
themselves of the means of education' afforded by the corporation for their 
children; many of this class would gladly contribute something towards the 
fostering of this institution, and those who would not should be compelled. 
The only way to reach them is for Congress to empower this corporation to 
levy a special capitation tax on all male residents over twenty-one years, for 
the purposes of public education. The grant of such power would, I am cer- 
tain, be not abused by the corporation, and would not be objectionable. 

In this connexion, I would point out, with a view of having it remedied, the 
injustice done, doubtless hurriedly and without being advised, by the action of 
Congress in altering the law in force in this District in relation to the edu- 
cation of colored children. 

Under former provisions of law, (act of IMay 20, 1862, section 1,) the pro- 
priety of which is admitted by all, this corporation set apart from the taxes ou 
real and personal property owned by colored persons in this city, for the pur-^ 
pose of educating colored children, the same proportionate part as was set 
apart from the taxes paid by white persons for the purpose of educating white 
children. Congress, however, at its last session (act of Jui* 25, 18(34, section 
IS) repealed this equitable provision, and directed that the corporate authorities 



870 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE IXTERIOR. 

of tlie cities of Georgetown and Washington thereafter "set apart from the 
whole fund received by them from all sources applicable under existing provi- 
sions of law to purposes of public education, such a proportionate part thereof 
for the education of colored children as the number of colored children in the 
respective cities, between the ages of six and seventeen years, bears to the whole 
number of children, thereof." Under my construction of this section of this 
last act of Congress, the trustees of colored schools of this city are entitled to 
receive from this corporation for the purpose of educating colored children an 
amount more than twice as much as the whole aggregate of taxes paid by all 
the colored persons of this city ,* while under the construction put upon it by 
the trustees of colored schools, which they claim, they would be entitled to 
receive an amount more than four times greater than the whole aggregate of 
taxes paid by colored persons. Whilst the corporate authorities of Wash- 
ington have been ever ready and willing to do all that can, with propriety and justice, 
be required of them to meliorate and amend the condition of the colored population 
of this city, and provide for their intellectual culture and improvement, it is 
reluctant to do this at so inordinate a cost to the white taxpayer. 

Whilst Congress has been liberal, and granted large sums and tracts of the 
public lands to several of the States and Territories, for the purposes of public edu- 
cation, it lias not as yet given to this city, from which it obtained so much, a 
dollar, and has given away, without consideration, valuable franchises — the in- 
herent right and property of this city — which would have yielded sufficient to 
support and maintain all its public schools. , 

In this connexion I would ask, that whenever, hereafter, any grant by way 
of a franchise is made of any privilege in this city, it be conditioned on obtain- 
ing the consent of the city authorities thereto. 

In this way, would not only the city be protected, but a revenue legitimately 
derived which would materially assist in fosteringTjur public schools. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

The city has, at considerable expense, established a paid fire department with 
the use of steam fire-engines, as well as erected a fire-alarm telegraph ; your prede- 
cessor, at my request, granting the corporation for this department the use of 
certain buildings, the property of the general government, erected as engine- 
houses. 

These buildings are inadequate for the purposes of the fire department as at 
present organized, and this corporation would, if the possession was guaranteed 
for a length of time sufficient to warrant the expense, tear them down and erect 
on their sites structures better adapted to the purposes. I would therefore ask 
of Congress to grant to this city, so long as they may be used for the purposes 
of a fire d<'partment, the lots of ground on which stand the Columbia, Union 
and Franklin engine-houses. 

I must, in conclusion, apologize for the length of this communication, neces- 
sary, however, on account of the importance to this community of obtaining the 
early action of Congress, in some way or another, on every matter and thing 
therein mentioned. 

I am, very respectfully, 

EICHARD WALLACE, Mayor. 

Hon. James Harlan, 

Secretary of the Interior. 

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